If you go ...

What: South Texas RV Show and SaleWhere: Victoria Community Center, 2905 E. North St.When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and SundayAdmission: $5, but free for children under 12.For more information, call 877-888-9444, 361-937-8888 or 800-781-7848.

Ed Miller meandered through the Victoria Community Center, gazing with bespectacled eyes at the larger-than-life RVs surrounding him.

With an index card clutched in one hand and a pen in the other, the 83-year-old jotted notes on the potential purchase that marked a new chapter in his life.

Miller visited the South Texas RV Show and Sale on Friday in hopes of finding his new home. With the September death of his wife, Margie Miller, he said it was simply time.

"Our deal was, if I went first, she'd get an apartment in town," he said, leaning against the gleaming side of a new RV. "If she went first, I'd get a place in the country. And that's what I'm going to do."

Miller and his wife lived in the same home for 54 years in El Campo, he said, but were caught off guard when doctors diagnosed Margie with cancer.

Her battle, he said, was a short one.

She died just six weeks shy of the couple's 60th wedding anniversary.

"We were planning a party," Miller said with a sigh.

Others who attended the Friday event were simply on the hunt for a better camping experience.

Kris Bast, a Victoria medical transcriptionist, said an RV seemed like a more affordable option for her family. Family outings get expensive with three children, she said, when factoring in hotel stays and meals out.

Belinda Santos, a Victoria tax preparer, said her RV interest was due to her grandson's urge to experience the great outdoors.

"He wants to go camping, but I want the air conditioning," she said with a chuckle. "We wanted to see what was out there."

As for Miller, he said he hoped to find his new home soon.

It appears his current house might have already sold, he explained, and he's ready to begin a quiet country life just south of Hillje.

"I want something different," he said, explaining his home is too much to care for. "Being by myself now, there are certain things I want. I'm not interested in some of the things women are interested in."

New address or not, he has no intentions of sitting back and taking it easy.

He takes part-time work on a family ranch in Jackson County every once in a while, he said, noting his pay comes in the form of a free place to hunt and fish.

"I want to keep busy," he said, admitting the new life might take some adjustment. "I want to be doing something."